Airliners-India.com

[jbalonso777]

Post number 1000 - and its a TR
I apologize for my delay, exams came in the way.
Like the AirAsia India TR, I believe this is the third TR on the forum focusing on the SpiceJet Q400.

FLIGHT #4: SG1 CHENNAI-COLOMBO 26TH OCTOBER 2014
Dad and I had to head to Bengaluru for a couple of days because I had a psychometric test to take part in. We took perhaps the most unorthodox routing into BLR - on a SriLankan Airlines A340-300 into Chennai, followed by a Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 operated by JetKonnect into Bengaluru.

So after having that chicken chettinad after the AirAsia India flight, Dad decided it'd be best if we just went straight into the terminal...and killed time there. As we walked out, of course there were so many taxi drivers who walked towards us asking if we wanted taxis...of course not
One of the electric buggies came and picked us up...

The nice man zipped past the new domestic arrivals, old departures and arrivals, old international arrivals and the brand new unused international arrivals, before finally stopping close to an elevator which would take us up to the international departures.

THE BORING TRANSIT, CHECK IN, MORE WAITING!
We came out and...wow there were so many people there. Not a place to sit. We tried entering the terminal...and it worked, although the CISF guard did tell us that the flight is at 0100 hours and that we wouldn't be allowed to come out. We were okay with that and he let us in. Huge lines everywhere as flights to DXB (EK547 B773 A6-EMN), AUH and KWI (9W526 B73H VT-JBH) and SIN (6E53 A320 VT-IFU and SQ529 A333 9V-STU). We found a place to sit at the very end of the terminal as we saw the check in action unfold before us: it was a EK vs SQ showdown (2 of my favorite airlines), while 6E and 9W were just there. The 9W flight was quite significantly delayed (but looking at records, it reached AUH only a bit late, and KWI before time). Everything happened in front of us: wheelchairs being changed, babies being quietened, security dog (LABRADOR!) moving around, while Dad read his book and I worked on the first part of the TR. Boarding announcements were heard even where I was sitting: the far end of the departure and check in hall! One thing I’ve noticed in MAA is a ‘paging call..’ or something like that…what exactly is this? Immigration lines were abysmally long! Of course, there is a massive Boeing 777-300 all set to go, which is fully loaded, and a similarly full Airbus A330-300 just an hour so later! The Air India flight to Dubai, for once, long departed after being on time, while UL124 counters (to CMB) were being closed. Time flew oh so slowly as I typed the TR, and walked towards the sweet shop to buy a almond-milk for myself. It tasted pretty good.

Some of the most boring hours I've ever spent!


Baggage tag from the previous flight!

As time moved slowly, new airline check in counters were opening up: TG, and curiously, LH! It was WAY too early for the LH counters to open, heck our flight would leave an hour before and here we had LH with their counter open! 2140 came and went, it was only at 2200 when check in would open. However, Dad and I just joined in the line when we saw 2 others who were in the line: in counter 1, there were 2 Sri Lankan men who had just come in from HYD on a separate PNR so they had issues with the bags being tagged all the way. I can't remember what it was...but it sounded pretty hilarious. And the world called only Indians the stingy ones Its everyone, just saying.

Counter closed, yet 4 people have already checked in for the flight

The agent had a smile on her face, so this was really nice. There was no sign on her face of the turmoil (which, at that point of time was low, but it was there..) SG is going through right now. She offered Premium seats to us for INR500 each, we politely declined that. She handed our boarding passes, we had over 3 hours to kill now. Immigration was a (unfortunately) quick affair, but I guess better going through immigration than standing in the long line for a....long time!


SG boarding pass. I remember back in 2008, when the Boeing 737-800 was prominently printed!

We found a couple of seats close the gate from which the SQ bird was about to depart. We were amongst the Singapore Airlines passengers….that was us just 2 months ago! 9V-STU looked beautiful in the night and some of its lights reflected off the wet tarmac: the shower had passed by while we waited in front of the check in area. I saw our SG Q400 just quietly parked opposite the international terminal.

Hey STU!

YOU KNOW YOU'RE BORED WHEN: an aircraft push back is interesting.
The SQ departure was pretty dramatic, I mean of course, it was the only wide body plane in the vicinity, so that dragged enough and more attention, including your's truly, Dad and many others. And by many, I mean 3 others, but its still a massive number relative to the number of people waiting there, since the SQ flight was gone and the TG/MH pax were walking in slowly. One could hear the diesel Air India tug apply every one of its horsepower to push back a fully loaded A330-300, while all that happened was that she moved back only very slowly. Just before the lights went out through the cabin, a TigerAir A320 roared down the Chennai Airport runway to head for SIN. Slowly, both RR trent engines came into life after a slight delay, and the she waited there for even longer. The intensity was certainly building up as I felt she had a slight technical snag and would have to be pulled back in to the gate. The tug was accelerating towards the jet bridge but suddenly stopped mid way. Something was up. The already delayed SQ529 seemed to be going nowhere. I waited. For something. It was a bit of an anticlimax when the the RR Trent 700s were gently spooled up as she slowly started its beautiful taxi towards the runway. Such was the reflection of the lights in the terminal on the glass, I couldn’t see anything. So rather than waiting for the take off, I just headed over to my seat and kept writing this TR.

Bye STU!


STU literally took the life out of this airport...

Dad had his book to read. My headphones were packed away so there was nothing I could do, but listen to a Grade 10 girl talk about her school to her Mum (yeah, they sat about 2 meters apart…so everything was heard..), and I got my nostalgic feels back….I MISS INDIA! And especially my school back in BOM.


Towards H13 we go!
Somehow we managed to pass time there, albeit it felt like forever. At around 2320 hours, we headed down to Gate H13. This again, was one of the incomplete parts of the terminal, with no false ceiling and all. Not that I cared about it, I just typed this TR. It was a lonely darkish area. Some more lights were turned on as more people came down, while the Cafeteria all of a sudden decided to wake up! A SG agent in his weekend uniform came downstairs, and started chatting with the CISF crew. I had a clearer view of the Q400 from downstairs. A BlueDart Boeing 757 slowly taxied towards the runway for departure like a cheetah about to pounce, only once when the 2 engines powered up, I heard her take off into the night sky! The Lufthansa A340 came in pretty soon, while an even louder Thai A330-300 fitted with PW engines parked at the very gate where the SQ A333 was parked. 2350, Gate H13 was looking like a gate holding passengers for a flight. Expect that the false ceiling was missing.

A rather dead Gate H13!

The crew members came in just 4 of them. A senior Captain, a slightly junior First Officer, a male and female flight attendant, both in their weekend uniform. Passengers..? Well, it looked like a full flight, no doubt. And the passengers were too energetic for a red eye. Speaking of red eye, at around the same time, Dad asked me something….not long before he noticed my blood shot eyes and forgot about his question. Yup, a real red eye indeed. And the kids running around did no favors. A quick glance at the FID screen: the early morning AI flight to MAA (Operated by VT-PPB that day), would be delayed by almost 2 hours.

BOARDING
Come 0010, boarding was announced. And that was about it really, just one or two boarding calls and we were asked to squeeze into one of SpiceJet’s diwali decorated busses. An IndiGo A320 was at the aerobridge, without the aerobridge actually attached.


With almost 100…er..78 people on the bus, we headed for the plane, past the TG A330. VT-SUD ‘Tejpatta’ would be flying us to Colombo. It was now when I learnt that our co-passengers were from Gujarat. Their talks of Narendra Modi in the Gujarati language gave it away. Furthermore, they were ALL from the same group. So that’s 60 odd people!

MH and TG on the tarmac

THE TURBOPROP STEREOTYPE!
To quote The Flying Engineer: The stereotyped image of an aircraft with propellers forces many to raise their eyebrows.
Exactly what I experienced.
Things got funnier! When they saw the Q400, some had raised eyebrows with jaws dropped…some said: ‘Haaain? Yeh kaisa plane hai?’ (Huh? What sort of a plane is this) or ‘Private plane hai jee!!!’ (its a private jet!) or ‘Modi bhai ko bolna inko bada plane udhane ka Colombo ke liye!’ (Ask brother Modi to tell them (SpiceJet) to fly a bigger to Colombo).
These conversations reminded me of my brother: he took this very flight in October 2012 (during the day, though!) when he heard a small child yell 'Nahin, mujhe normal plane chahiye!' (No, I want a normal plane), after looking at the Q400.

Since Dad and I were one of the first ones to board the bus, we were one of the last to get off... Perfect for me! Of course, I knew my camera would perform quite badly in the low light (unless I set it to a real low-light setting, and the D7100 has the capability, but I just couldn't be bothered with my red eyes.....), so I used my phone camera instead.

Thank God..at least 2 of my flights this trip were NextGen planes (VT-JFK being the other one!)


I concede, my phone's camera isn't good enough

So I will take a few pictures which my relatives took. Like I said in the first part, they came in on the day we took the A340 to MAA.


A long line grew in front of the built in stairs as I took some pictures of SUD. Finally it was my time to board. I was greeted by lead flight attendant Ajay. The Q400 seats looked very tired to me. But except for the seats, everything was pretty OK. 'Yeh plane kitna chhota hai!' (This plane is so small!) exclaimed one. I took my seat 14D but I wasn't expecting 14C to be empty. I was right.


Maybe its the texture and design which make it look tired?


Windows were like this for all seats


Cabin filling up soon!




'With all our heart....

A young lad, probably 2 or 3 years older to me took that seat. And well, he wasn't one of the loud ones. I think one of his friends was in 12A. 'Bhaiya aap us seat baithe sakte hain?' (Brother, can you seat on that seat?) I had a look, it was the seat right next to Dad's! Without any hesitation, I moved over. I also let him know that I preordered my sandwich (YES! I booked an Achari Chicken Sandwich for Dad, and Chicken Tikka Sandwich for myself), so ask the crew to redirect it to 12A. He said okay to it. I moved over and sat next to Dad. 'This should be a fun flight', he said, as the cabin of 70+ people was loud and alive with plenty of chit chattering. Sleep seemed out of the question.


My view for the next hour and a half..



(From the relatives...)

Now, on the crew. Lead FA Ajay was always at the front of the cabin (galley), while the female FA had to walk through the aisle. Poor lady, had to go through it all. She started the water service, (first and only one) and the glasses got empty off the tray...and it looked like wolves fighting against themselves to get the water! Next up, she was asked by one of the elderly gentlemen of the group asked her 'Bas aap hi hain kya?' (Are you the only one?) to which she said no and pointed towards the lead FA in the front. On her way to the back, someone's leg was out and she nearly tripped on it, to which she have a cold stare and stated 'Mind your legs!' She was in for a long night when I saw two of the kids running down the aisles and blocking her path, she asked them to sit down TWICE and all that happened was that.... They didn't sit. Kids being a handful on this flight, I guess was the final nail in the coffin for the FA. A long night lay in front of her. All of this happened in only about 20 minutes!

DEPARTURE
Lead FA Ajay welcomed us onboard the flight, giving us some details. One which caught my attention - flying time of 1hr35min! Therefore this'd easily be my longest flight on the MAA-CMB-MAA sector! In terms of flying time, of course. Push back commenced well on time at 0034 (6 minutes before STD), when the loud passengers were suddenly hushed as one of the people did a loud 'SSSHHHHHHH!' during the safety demonstration. Almost like a teacher in school LOL
Both PW150A props were fired into life as we taxied towards the runway, and soon took off into the night skies of Chennai. Like the ATR, the Q400 did have a very powerful take off, and not underpowered like the Xian MA60.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ0oV2VnXaw

INFLIGHT
We set into a rather low cruising altitude, there were chit chattering around but most passengers fell asleep. Lights were dimmed during start up, and kept this way all through the flight. Crew began their service initially by serving a hot beverage to a passenger.... And they said no hot beverages on the Q400? Also, a red tray with presumably a hot meal was taken all the way to the front galley, with what looked like a hot meal!!! And they said no hot meals on the Q400?! This was not given to passenger though. Some rather hard turbulence hit us at 0119 hours. The crew began their service as I was drifting in and out of sleep. For the first time I finally heard more plane sounds (crew going around offering stuff with the turboprop in the background), as opposed to people loudly chattering away. The Q400 did seem quite loud though 😁
When the FAs reached my row, I told them 'I ordered a sandwich..?' To which lead FA Ajay asked 'Mr Ashok?' to which I pointed at my Dad. He asked the lady FA to give a chicken sandwich. This was given, with a packet of juice, ketchup and paper napkins. I also told him 'I had to move from 14D to 12A. I think you have a sandwich for me too....' then he asked 'You must be Mr. Jishnu', to which I affirmed. He again asked her to give me a chicken sandwich, and the same process of handing out things followed.
So while the remembering of names was good, a few things.
1. Not one smile, but that's understandable.
2. Had I not stopped them, would they have gone away with the pre-ordered food?!
3. On both instances, he said chicken sandwiches... Not achari or tikka... But that's okay, since I got anyways, but generalizing it down to chicken sandwiches and getting a tikka one rather than the ordered achari one would cause some people to be unhappy...
Well anyways. The sandwich was, in terms of taste, marginally better than that on JetKonnect, but because the corners hadn't been cut (I ain't a fan of that..) so I left that part out. Dad just had the juice, and gave me the sandwich, so YAY two sandwiches for me! I packed the second one into my bag, gave the trash away, put my headphones on. 0129 hours, 10 minutes after service, the crew completely disappear.


The plane remained like that for the whole flight



To quote what Kimi Raikkonen says to everything: it was pretty OK.
Worth the money? Mmmm, maybe a bit too overpriced again


So up until 25/10/2014, SG1 departed at 0100 hours. So looks like today's the first time SG1 departed at 0040 hours!





Seat pocket stuff

ARRIVAL


Using the D7100's low light potential as we rapidly descend towards CMB



The next I knew, we were going through some thick clouds. And soon, I saw the last lights of India as we flew over a more life less, light less land. Sri Lanka. Descent soon started and a very smooth touchdown followed at 0207 hours. There is something about smooth touchdowns in Colombo, this was my third in a row (UL564 from CDG, SQ468 from SIN and now this). Unsurprisingly, and obviously, we parked at one of the remote bays, not the ones close to the terminal! The far off ones. Maybe they're cheaper......
Stalker Emirates was in full swing as I saw the huge 777-300ER come in from SIN, and taxi towards the terminal at an extremely high speed! I've never seen a 777 taxi so quickly, ever before! Doors were quickly opened. It struck my mind that we're effectively racing the SIN-CMB pax to immigration, despite the low loads on that flight, I've always told you how slow the Sri Lankan immigration people are. I was one of the last ones to get off the plane, I thanked the crew along the way. I was one of the last ones to be stuffed into the UL bus.




So this worked to my advantage: last one on the bus, first one off. Getting off as soon as the door opened would mean I can skip the immigration line! An old Mercedes was quite awkwardly placed at the door, usually its a Bajaj tuk tuk 😐
Anyways, door opened, and I made a Michael Schumacher-esque pole position start as I literally launched off the bus and went upstairs to find the immigration forms. Filled those in really soon, they're very easy. Dad caught up and filled in the forms too. Only 7 or 8 of us filled the forms, the rest were the massive Gujarati crowd, creating a mess and confusing, yelling and all. The serenity of the BIA at 0230 in the morning was long gone. The immigration people found this as a joke (it was...) and loudly exclaimed 'Hahaha, Indians'. I got their little moment of joy broken as I kept my lead and went through immigration. Didn't bother arguing with them about their comment, I look forward to exiting this country ASAP for good 😅
(Surprisingly) Quick immigration later, the EK SIN passengers caught up, the lines started to grow. Bought some stuff at the duty free, collected bags and then headed home. 0320 hours, departure time for SG2 back to MAA, we were home. I was far from crashing into bed, I finished writing some parts of this TR before sleeping at almost 0430 or 5. Hunger? Of course! Hunger is ever present in me So I had the other sandwich. Oh my the achari chicken sandwich was so much better than the murgh tikka!

For the second time in two days: having airplane food on the ground!





That then, ends this part of the TR, and this TR as a whole. I will now summarize the flights on this trip.
SriLankan Airlines’ service remains pretty decent, if not better than what they had before joining oneworld alliance. Its nice to see the A340-300s in such good condition, but they’re on their way out very soon Food served was pretty OK, nothing too extraordinary, but pretty filling for a flight of this flight, and a plane of that size!
JetKonnect, well they’re gone as I right this. But it was great to be on the Busy Airport plane, a Sky Interior version of it! With the FSC model, I hope they manage to serve every single passenger on the plane! Meeting the pilot was good fun
AirAsia India, well, they are no doubt following a complete LCC model, but I can’t judge anything yet since there wasn’t a service at all! Their hot meals are pretty amazing, though!
SpiceJet, again, nothing out of the ordinary and I hope they do survive their current turmoil: the blue skies are filled with mostly blue (6E, 9W) and other dark shades (G8, UK). India is losing its bright red colors (IT - gone, SG - please don’t go, I5 - God only knowns if you’ll survive!) from the sky.

Its usually this time in the TR when I drop a few hints about my upcoming trip, but this time, I will be transparent about my plans. I have no flights coming up in the near future. But I foresee some great things happening, in terms of my life and more relevantly here, in terms of flights! Yes, I took a sabbatical in end 2012 to mid June 2013, but with a lot of uncertainty. While the sabbatical might be on, there is no uncertainty this time around. I have a plan in my mind. A plan which I’ve discussed with many prominent AI.net members, and I look to consolidate over time. 2015 sees the beginning of something very new (to start off, support Sebastian Vettel ) and I look forward to writing more of those TRs over time! So this marks, in the short term, the end of my trip-report writing.
Once again, a shout out to Nimish sir and Varun for making the time and catching up with me in a busy Bengaluru! Trust me, the discussions we had over that dinner will be fruitful for my 2015 travel plans.

Fly save everyone!
Regards
Jishnu


SPOTTING PHOTOGRAPHS
Hong Kong 2
Hong Kong 1Negomdo 2
Negombo 1

2014
4 short flights: Part 3 - The AirAsia India flight to MAA
4 short flights: Part 2 - Conflicted thoughts on 9W-K to BLR
4 short flights: Part 1 - UL quad-jet joy to Chennai!
Short(er) TR: A final flash of brilliance from SQ!
Back to Singapore on the upper deck: SQ consistency!
Finally the B747: return to Hong Kong on the EVA combi!
(Short): The Taiwan High Speed Rail Experience (railways, non-aviation)
Venturing new land in Taiwan: Taipei in 101 pictures! (non-aviation)
Venturing new land in Taiwan: to Taipei on the MD90!
Discovering more in Hong Kong, drama in Hong Kong! (non-aviation)
Discovering more in Hong Kong, venturing new land in Taiwan!
Voyage scolaire: Paris pour une semaine avec SriLankan!
Mumbai with my mates: madness multiplying massacre?!

2013
2 A's and an A - beloved Bangalore, cheery in Chennai!
Jaw-rattling to joyful Jaffna!
Dreamy Diversion to Delhi: Mumbai, here I come!
Finishing off Singapore: Comprehensively Contrasting Cathay!

2012
Kolkata during the Durga Puja
Quick quick! Formula One in Singapore!
I'm coming home! (Flight 4 of 4).
I'm coming home! (Flight 3 of 4).
I'm coming home! (Flight 2 of 4)
I'm coming home! (Intro and flight 1 of 4)
Emirates to South Africa! (4/4)
Emirates to South Africa! (3/4)
12 days in South Africa. And a flight with Kulula.
Emirates to South Africa! (2/4)
Emirates to South Africa! (1/4)

2011
An International Transit with 9W: BOM-MAA-CMB
They know how to be brilliant! 9W BOM-CMB-BOM (Okay, maybe not anymore )
Konnecting to Bhubaneshwar
16 Hours in Colombo
Mumbai-Colombo-Mumbai on Jet Airways
Nagpur (not its oranges) on Jetlite
North Bengal (And CCU) 54 pictures & few videos (9W/IT)

2010
Kolkata during the Durga Puja (2010)
International on Jet Airways: Hong Kong! (2010)
Brainstorming! CCU-BOM (via BBI & HYD) on S2 & 6E
_________________
http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777

[abhijith16]

Excellent TR, Jish.

That Gujju thing got my route planning wheels whirring again!

Sad about Spicejet. You're pretty much spot on when you mean on how another Red airline shouldn't fall off the skies again.

Thanks for doing this!
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[pradeep777]

Excellent Report Jish.
This is why i said in my first trip report as you are one among the people who inspired me to write a TR.
Brilliant Pics. Spicejet may offer competitive prices but they lag a bit behind when it comes to customer service.
Thanks alot for sharing.

[rakesh959]

Thanks Jish for a wonderful TR!So everywhere there are gujjus!That private Jet part was hilarious And As I was mentioning in the whatsapp group Spice's Q400s arent well kept(Both interiors and maintenance) for their age.I would definitely rate the Q400 better than the ATR72-500 but Spicejet's handling of the Q400 fleet hasnt been the best sadly,So I dont think India would see more of them!SG crew are the typical Indian LCC crew no surprises there.MAA should improve soon and shouldnt be left behind the likes of BOM/DEL/BLR/HYD.So overall a wonderful description of the turboprop!

[jbalonso777]

Thanks for your quick replies, the three of you!

Abhijeeth, want to add AMD to your itinerary? Should be fun
And thanks for your support!

Pradeep sir, thank you for your compliment! It means a lot to me
True about SG. Fares are low, but they do what they're supposed to do: get passengers from A to B (safely!), the very least an airline is expected to do. And they're also an LCC so...
Furthermore, I don't think I mentioned this, I got this cheap price on MMT (oh the horror bookings!), a combination fare with UL's A340 flight.
Again, thank you!

Rakesh! Thanks for your reply I sent you a text on WhatsApp, but it simply didn't go! It just shows one tick mark
SG should've done a better job in maintaining their birds, yes. Jet's done a fabulous job maintaining their old ATRs (and 737s!) I've heard somewhere that in the tropics, the operating cost of the Q400 is almost the same as a B737!
Its quite a conflicting time right now in aviation now, right? Some are bleeding, others' are looking confident about their outcomes...Lets see how it all pans out, and I for one hope that India once again sees the rise of full service carriers (S2, IT, 9W, IC, etc pre-2006 and now AI, 9W, UK post 2014!)

Regards
Jish
_________________
http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777

[sumantra]

Yessir, we have been eagerly waiting for this one.
As usual, a nice precis introduction, introducing the reader to the context, with soft links for those who may have missed out some details (most of us do not, so enthralling and memorable are your TRs!)
A nice description of the `usual' events prior to the trip (Labrador )
This had the usual JB brand of witty humour, which we all love!
The description of the SQ pushback, and the Q4 comments was extremely entertaining. SG is getting good loads: I hope for their sake, that they get out of the mess they are in, very soon. The SG planes look quite tired and worn out now-a-days, a far cry from they heydays. The `hot meals' on the Q4 are for the cockpit crew: sometimes they have extra ones, which go to lucky hungry pax (It does not pay to pre-book a meal when such occurrences happen: I too discovered the hard way). Question: did the sandwiches taste fresh, at least?
Thanks once again for a lovely 4-part TR!
Cheers, Sumantra.

[ameya]

Thanks Jishnu for the TR. Enjoyed reading it. I have not been to MAA / CCU for a long time and it is always fun to read TRs of these airports.
Any idea on the loads on 6E SIN flight? 6E launched that flight after they pulled out of BOM & DEL and kept the station open. MAA-SIN is one of the lowest yielding markets.
Hope this is not your last Q400-SG combination, going by what is happening to the airline
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[jbalonso777]

Thanks for your replies, Sumantra sir and Ameya sir!

Sumantra sir, that's a whole lot of compliments, I hope to carry this forward into 2015!
Loads are not everything today sadly, sir. I remember 9W seeing amazing loads in the MAA-CMB-MAA sector, and now that's gone. That flight was a blessing! Perfect timing (albeit red-eye, it provided a useful connection for the folks' flights to DEL and CCU), reliable Jet service, JPMiles.... However though, 9W has consolidated its BOM-CMB-BOM by offering a nicely timed evening flight from BOM to CMB, while the return is the much needed 2100 hours departure, that stopped when 9W255 changed to a 0610 departure ex-CMB in mid-2013. Rishul tells me, that sees good business traffic. Nice to know!
Back to SG - like I was saying, good loads are not enough. Its the yields, I guess. IIRC, the Q400 operating cost is as high as that of a B737. And with SG's throwaway prices, its bound to head downhill
Hmm interesting to know about the Q400 hot meals! I hope to see that TR of your's very soon!
Yes, very fresh and tasty sandwiches, awesome!

Ameya sir, great to hear from! I always find yours' and Ojas' SG fight entertaining!
I should be going to CCU next year, and of course, flight = TR. So I'll most certainly post one! Negative about 6E, sir. With a departure time of 2150, we were trapped in front of the check in area till about 2210 hours
But that's really strange to know about 6E, one expects it to be the 100% full flights, money making types! Hopefully they'll improve with time
Thanks for your reply, sir!

Regards
Jish
_________________
http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777

[jbalonso777]

Hey all, I've uploaded the other two videos from the Q400 flight.

As usual, a very soft landing at CMB.
Take off: http://youtu.be/JmxKo302Rpg
Lading/taxi/shut down: http://youtu.be/EaBxKRel3oA
(Notice how the Q400 props are shut down, but the props still keep running before another distinct sound of something shutting down which leads to the props stopping)

Enjoy!

Regards
Jish
_________________
http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777

[sri_bom]

Another excellent TR Jish. With all the turmoil that spice jet is going through you are lucky to have flown them as we don’t know when they will shut down. The comments from the “Gujju” group was hilarious I am sure they must have been part of tour package. The sandwich looks just about OK but seems like it tasted good. The Tropicana juice is not really a juice but a fruit blend which is nothing but 90% sugar water. Unfortunately most juices sold are not really fresh but made from concentrate and there is a myth that they are nutritious and healthy.

Thanks for posting a detailed report enjoyed reading it.

Sri_Bom

[jbalonso777]

[jbalonso777]

Mods/Admin - posting this under my TR thread rather than starting a new thread or under the SG news thread, because this isn't 'news' as such.

So as I write this, Dad is in the Chennai International Airport. He's flying SpiceJet tonight. His routing was CMB-MAA-BLR-MAA-CMB. His CMB-MAA-BLR flights went like clockwork, despite SG2 being cancelled for the two days prior to Dad's flights. And then the whole fleet got grounded in the midst of it all.

But here's the important today.
His flights today were SG1088 and SG1 (22/12/2014). SpiceJet sent Dad a message saying that SG1088 would be delayed by 50 minutes anyways, therefore reducing connection time at MAA down to just 1hr30min. Never enough for international anywhere around the world, even with bags through checked in.

So Dad landed in MAA at around 2310 hours. An announcement was made requesting all Colombo bound passengers to be seated and stay back on the plane. So as Dad was messaging me, I had similar questions as he did - what about immigration then?!
That's when the crew informed him and a few others that a separate bus would take them to the international terminal and get immigration and all done.Very nice!

I must say, a really good gesture by SG, minimizing passenger inconvenience and making up for the 50 minute delay. And this despite what they're going through right now.
Kudos to SG! 😊👍

Planes in question:
VT-SUD (as reported in this TR) CMB-MAA-BLR
VT-SUF 'Kesar' BLR-MAA-CMB.

Regards
Jish
_________________
http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777

[sumantra]

[jbalonso777]

[jbalonso777]

A few pictures Dad clicked from his recent trip - yes, I did promise the ultimate Indian FSC comparison between Ai and 9W, that will be put up soon as a separate thread for sure, hopefully by the upcoming weekend


SG B738 just parked


Dad's third flight on VT-SUD: first was with me on MAA-CMB, then his CMB-MAA flight prior to this MAA-BLR flight.


Cabin. Decently filled flight.


Just a few hours after SG's operations were disrupted due to no fuel. Nice to see the truck over there


MAA tarmac...blue wins.



VT-RED just before its first ever revenue flight as I51424 BLR-PNQ on 18th December 2014








Cabin: VT-SUF Kesar SG1088 BLR-MAA, delayed by 50 minutes.


SUF again after being turned around for the quick international hop


4 out of 4 full flights.


Brought me joy seeing this pic


Perhaps the last Q400 flight for Dad?

So in the space of less than 2 months, Dad has recorded 6 Q400 flights:
SG1 MAA-CMB 26OCT14 VT-SUD 'TEJPATTA'
SG2 CMB-MAA 28NOV14 VT-SUL 'JAVITRI'
SG2 CMB-MAA 18DEC14 VT-SUD 'TEJAPATTA'
SG3145 MAA-BLR 18DEC14 VT-SUD 'TEJAPATTA'
SG1088 BLR-MAA 21DEC14 VT-SUF 'KESAR'
SG1 MAA-CMB 22DEC14 VT-SUF 'KESAR'

Regards
Jish
_________________
http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777

[sumantra]

[TKMCE]

Jishnu

'I had a bad experience as well with SG (good for connecting pax bad for OD pax) similiar to your Dad with SG.

SG MLE COK was delayed by 90 minutes on one of my flights on that sector and the delay was announced just before scheduled check in time opening at MLE and I too got a SMS about the delay. At COK about half the pax were connecting to BOM and DEL and that flight STD was approaching as our flight landed 90 min behind schedule
.
SG always parks at the domestic apron (as the aircraft operates a domestic COK MAA rotation affter arrival from MLE) and on disembartkation BOM DEL pax were told ot get into one bus and the rest (mostly COK pax and a few MAA and HYD pax - they have a late night MAA/HYD departure for connectionsl) were asked to get into the other bus.


And SG ground staff in plain Malayalam instructed the driver openly of our bus that he leave only after 10 minutes after the other bus. So this was SG wonderful way of "fast track" immigraiton for theri BOM DEL pax so that they get ahead of the que.

Now if this had happend to you in CMB instead of me at COK, you would have wailed ,cribbed and howled at SG instead of showering praises on how brilliantly they handled the transit pax .

Remember in this case it was the other way around - all pax wheter transit or OD had to clear customs and immigration at COK. And to make it worse because of this lousy handling, I missed my connecting bus at the airport coach staiton and had to take an over priced taxi (COK airport taxies are a wel known rip off for shiort distance pax) home. Hey I also paid my hard earned money to SG to travel on that flight - not just the Dilli Mimbai wallahs alone

[jbalonso777]

Sumantra sir, no food at all In fact, the manage my booking section no longer gives you the option to book meals onboard.

You have your fair share of arguments, Rajeev sir. But all this praising was simply because of how the SG folk are holding up quite well. But they do have their off days, all airlines do, whether in financial stress or not.

Who knows for sure if what happened with you is an everyday thing or just a one off? Only SG do, no one else. But yes, really not the right way to handle pax as you rightly said, no doubt about it.

With regards to CMB, all of that is handled by UL, but then again Dad was more than ready to stay at home for those few days rather fly go to BLR in the first place. So either way, nothing won or lost by SG in that case..

Anyone else have SpiceJet experiences to share with us? Please do, good or bad

Regards
Jish
_________________
http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777

[avbuff]

Nice TR, great to see an SG international TR after so much masala in the news about their imminent death.

Liked the LH 744 catch at MAA, and IMO Spicejet sandwiches isn't your quintessential airplane food, easily eatable at home

Thanks for sharing, oh btw bored or not I like watching airplane pushbacks as well!

[sumantra]

Jishnu and TKMCE: these were quite interesting perspectives on the SG mode of operation! I guess most of us will hesitate to book flights on SG till we have some better news from the airline. What do the experts say: is there a sliver of hope?
Cheers, Sumantra.

[jbalonso777]

Ojas, thanks so much for your reply!
Yeah, SG..international..we all know the last SG international TR was in fact from you! I hope they keep SG51/52 through. Its a real blessing, and more importantly a beacon of good luck

Hahaha, true about the SG food! Was fresh and delicious even back home

And yes, I love watching planes being pushed back too. No denying about that. Just that I was so bored during that time, it was intense, hehe.

Sumantra sir, I've heard the original founder Ajay Singh is in fact devising a recovery plan for SpiceJet, I do hope for their sake it works out for them! And I'm sure it will help them out

Regards
Jish
_________________
http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777